by Stacey
Presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama used the occasion of Father’s Day last weekend to talk about the role of fathers in the lives of many black children. This article in the NY Times said that in a speech at a 20,000-member Apostolic Church of God on the South Side near Lake Michigan, Obama delivered […]

by Stacey
I spent today nursing a cold and taking care of kids at the same time. Ah yes, the beloved sucks-for-you sick day that’s just one of the many perks of being a stay-at-home parent.
In my misery, I allowed myself the pleasure of reading this Vanity Fair cover story about Madonna who is turning fifty […]

by Stacey
One in four late talking toddlers will continue to have language problems by age seven, according to new research out of Western Australia. This article in Science Daily says that the project, called LOOKING at Language, analyzed the speech development of 1766 children from infancy to age seven, with particular focus on environmental, neuro-developmental […]

by Stacey
Whether a young man’s mother earned a college degree or worked outside the home while he was growing up may influence his choice of a future wife, according to a new study by sociologists at the University of Iowa. Thanks to this article in ScienceDaily for the tip.
High-achieving men — those who earn salaries […]

by Stacey
As the mother of two boys I spend a fair amount of time playing with balls. Yes, I have changed a lot of diapers, but what I’m talking about are soccer balls, footballs, tennis balls, bouncy rubber balls that disappear under the couch and make the baby cry. If it’s round, we’ve got it […]

by Stacey
Last week I wrote on the importance of eating dinner with kids, especially young children. Here’s more on family meals, this time from the teen perspective. A new study in the March issue of the journal Pediatrics found teens who eat breakfast consistently are less likely to be overweight than those who skip the […]

Cross-posted at MotherTalkers
by Stacey
About a week ago I went to hear a lecture on talking to kids about sex by Amy Lang, a parent educator in Seattle. I really was just tagging along with a friend and hadn’t given much thought to the topic since my kids are only four and one-year old.
Well, I got […]

by Stacey
Thanks to many of you who pointed me towards this article in last Sunday’s NY Times magazine on gender-based education. I finally got a chance to read it last night. So let’s get to it.
The article showcases the ideas of Leonard Sax, a pediatrician turned single-sex education advocate who claims that boys and […]

Tom Schierlitz for The New York Times
by Stacey
How important is play? According this too-long article in last Sunday’s NY Times magazine, this question is causing some anxiety among parents and educators and has become the topic of a burgeoning field of scientific research.
Scientists who study play, in animals and humans alike, are developing […]

by Stacey
The Open Post - Last Friday I took Sascha to the Child Development Lab at the University of Washington in Seattle. I volunteered to bring both kids on separate days for a class on human development.
When we walked in, the students, who are in a grad school program in Occupational Therapy, were sitting at […]